51cg

Biography

• MEng Honours degree, 1st class, in Civil Engineering with major in Geotechnics and Foundations, School of Civil Engineering, Belgrade, Yugoslavia obtained in 1997.
• Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering, School of Engineering, 51cg obtained in 2001.

Research Overview

My research focuses on the environmental and operational implications of marine and offshore engineering. I examine the impact of trawling gear on benthic ecosystems and explore methods to enhance fuel efficiency in fisheries. I also investigate safe pipeline burial depths in Arctic regions, accounting for geotechnical and climatic constraints.

Recent work includes the decommissioning of subsea pipelines and bundles, and the spatial and regulatory challenges of integrating offshore wind farms with existing fishing activities. My earlier research addressed the dynamic behaviour of ground anchorage systems, with emphasis on numerical and physical modelling techniques.

Current Research

My primary research focuses on the environmental and operational impact of marine infrastructure. I investigate the effects of trawling gear on benthic ecosystems through Finite Element modelling and laboratory experiments, enabling quantitative assessment of seabed disturbance. This work has extended to the oil and gas sector, examining iceberg–seabed interactions under saturated conditions in collaboration with Technip UK.

More recently, I have explored the decommissioning of subsea pipelines, bundles, and offshore wind farms, as well as the spatial and regulatory challenges of coexistence between wind energy developments and traditional fisheries. These projects have received support from the EU, Norwegian Research Council, Fisheries Innovation Scotland, and various industry stakeholders.

Earlier in my career, I focused on the dynamic behaviour of ground anchorage systems, with emphasis on numerical and physical modelling. This included research into mining support systems, addressing industry concerns regarding optimal anchorage length through laboratory testing and computational analysis. That work was supported by EPSRC and industrial partners.

Funding and Grants

Current Projects

09/2016 – 09/2018 :  NERC Industrial CASE studentship to examine the biogeochemical effects of benthic trawling (Co-I with Dan J Mayor of National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, as PI)  approx. £45k 

01/2016-01/2018 : “The development of the engineering application knowledge to deploy the patented 'DeepBuoy' pumpable buoyancy technology” KTP project funded by Innovate UK and Aubin Group, £145,744 (Co-I with Dr Richard Neilson as PI),

01/2015 – 08/2015 : “Modelling of physical impact of demersal fishing gears on the seabed”, Funded by Fisheries Innovation Scotland (FIS)  £94,337 (PI).

10/2012 – 06/2016 : “BENTHIS (a Benthic ecosystem fisheries impact study)” EU FP7 grant; PI for 132k Euros, approx. £104k   (part of  6M Euro BENTHIS project with 12 other European participants).

Completed Projects

09/2011 – 01/2015 - “Modelling of trawl gear components”; funded by  Marine Scotland - Science, Fisheries Research Station, Aberdeen;   £22k; (PI)

11/2012 – 12/2015 -  “Enhanced Gravity Foundations on Rock for Marine Energy Generators”;  joint ETP studentship with Dr Michael Brown (University of Dundee) and Neil Morgan (Lloyds Registrar, Aberdeen);approx. £45k (Co-I)

11/2012 – 06/2013  Technip UK OED - £22k – to support the research on iceberg interaction with the seabed research.  (PI)

10/11 – 07/12  Technip UK OED - £6,951 – to support the research on iceberg interaction with the seabed research. (PI)

08/2011 – 01/2012 Royal Academy of Engineering – Industrial Secondment Grant £18k

10/2009 – 10/2012 “Modelling of Large Soil Strain Motions in Pipeline/Seabed Interactions”. NSRI studentship  (PI,  with Dr R.D. Neilson as Co-I).

01/09 – 01/12 “New fuel and catch efficient active fishing gear concepts based on trawl and seine” EC grant (part of a larger project led by SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture (SFH, Trondheim, Norway). PI for  £45k.   The work is collaborative with Dr FG  O’Neill of Marine Scotland - Science, Aberdeen.

05/08 – 05/11 “Investigation of the Design of Anchorage Head and Bond Length for Assessing Multi-strand Anchorages” EPSRC, EP/E050301/1, £267k. (PI, with Dr R.D. Neilson as a Co-I).

10/2007 – 10/2010 “The fundamental understanding of the behaviour of soil nails placed in retaining walls using the centrifuge modelling technique and numerical modelling” NRP scholarship,  PI for £30k. (with A Brennan from Dundee University as a Co-I)

03/2008 - 01/2008 “Commercialisation of a system for the assessment of total length of a ground anchorage”. 51cg, Approx. £34k commercialisation grant entitled: (with R.D. Neilson)

02/2006 – 04/2009 “Development of Fishing Gears with Reduced Effects on the Environment” (part of the 2M Euro DEGREE project with 12 other participants). EC grant PI for a 220k Euros (approx. £145k). Collaborative with Drs Barry O’Neill of the Marine Lab, Fisheries Research Station, Aberdeen and Leonie Robinson of the University of Liverpool. (with Dr RD. Neilson)

11/2003 - 06/2006      “Behaviour of soil nails placed in retaining walls using the centrifuge modelling technique and numerical modelling”, EPSRC (GR/S21335/01).  £267k EPSRC grant Co-I with Prof A.A. Rodger as PI, Prof M. C. Davies (University of Dundee), Dr R.D. Neilson and A. J. Starkey as Co-I

02/2003 – 03/2006 “Investigation on the determination of the total bolt length using the current GRANIT system” Amec, £36k (with Prof A.A. Rodger and Dr R.D. Neilson) (MSc student – Mr Ruggero Trevisan)

12/2003 – 07/2004 “Recoding the program for anchorage systems written in Matlab into C++Grant holder of a £18.4k commercialisation grant funded by the 51cg.

02/2003 – 03/2006 “Fundamental understanding of anchorage behaviour in particular the detection of the free length of prestressed anchorages.” University funded PhD Studentship £36k.

03/2008-01/2009 “Commercialisation of a system for the assessment of total length of a ground anchorage”. 51cg approx. £34k commercialisation grant . This is a 9 months project with a view of developing a new technology for enhancing the GRANIT system. (with R.D. Neilson)

Consultancies

2011                Kessock Bridge Cable Tension Study, A field study testing the tension at the prestressed cables. Scotland Transerv.

2011                Ice scour laboratory study. Technip, UK

2012                Uplift resistance of pipelines in sand. Technip, UK

2014                CPD ‘OffshoreGeotechnics’ through ASRANet, Shell (May 2014), DOS Subsea (Sept 2014)

Teaching Responsibilities

Undergraduate teaching:

• Geotechnics 1      (EA3027)
• Geotechnics 2      (EA4011)
• Geotechnics 1A    (EG25H9)
• Geotechnics 1B    (EG35H1)
• Individual BEng and MEng projects

Postgraduate teaching:

• Individual MSc projects